State budget cuts kinder than expected

TALLAHASSEE — Patricia Lurie of Broward County doesn't know whether she should kiss her lawmakers, or slug them.

For weeks, Lurie worried Florida legislators were going to curtail the tax-supported services that make day-to-day living possible for her son Joshua, 34, who has cerebral palsy.

"If he were left alone, he would probably choke to death," said Lurie of Cooper City.

As it turned out, the cuts in publicly funded disability care approved Friday in Tallahassee weren't as bad as they could have been - an outcome similar to what happened in other areas of state spending, including money for South Florida schools, hospitals and courts. Legislators did not cut as deeply as some had feared, but did shrink the state's $71 billion annual budget by $1.1 billion.

The Senate approved the downsizing 23-9, followed by the House, 72-39, in voting largely based on party lines. Democrats criticized spending reductions that will affect education and the environment and argued they could have been avoided by tapping the state's multibillion-dollar reserves. Republicans said doing so would be fiscally irresponsible, and opted for a let's-tighten-our-belts attitude.

As a result:

Broward schools will get about $100 less per student this year to educate children;

South Florida hospitals serving the uninsured will lose millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements, and will likely pass the cost on in the form of higher hospital bills and taxes;

College students will pay 5 percent more for tuition, or an extra $55 a semester if you are an in-state student taking 15 credit hours.

Broward County will lose $600,000 in projects to find alternative sources of water; and,

State prosecutors and public defenders won't get their usual salary bonuses.

In the case of Patricia Lurie's son, his state-funded, in-home care will remain intact, but other Floridians whose physical and mental disabilities are less severe won't be as lucky. Their personal care assistants' pay also was cut.

Cutbacks in disability funding enacted by legislators prove they "just don't get it," Lurie, 62, a psychotherapist, said. "This isn't about money. This is about people's lives."

The lawmakers were convened into special session because the state collected less tax money than expected, largely because of the slowdown in the real estate market.

"We all had to make tough decisions. We all have to squeeze and pinch," said Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, who heads the Senate's budget committee.

Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, said that the cuts will prove costly in the long run, citing the money for water projects lost by Broward County.

"We're sitting here with a water shortage in this state," Seiler said. "We're dealing with a drought."

Jim Notter, Broward superintendent of schools, said he was "pleasantly surprised" lawmakers deleted only $26 million from his budget. He had been worried they might ax several times that. Anticipating a big decrease in state funding, Notter froze hiring for all employees other than teachers, reduced the number of school bus stops and cut back on staff overtime.

He will keep those cost-saving measures in place because he is worried about next year.

"If we continue to have a decline in state revenue, which we are predicted to have, I'll have a much bigger problem," he said.

Broward County hospitals will lose $12.7 million because of drops in funding that include a reduction in the Medicaid reimbursement rate for uninsured patients. Tony Carvalho, president of Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, said care to legal immigrants in South Florida will be affected. "Just because they cut Medicaid doesn't mean the costs go away, it just transfers the burden back on the local community," he said.

The impact, though, could have been worse, Carvalho said. The state gave breaks to trauma hospitals that serve many uninsured people. Otherwise, Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach could have lost another $3 million.

Florida Atlantic University will see the $175 million in state money it was expecting shrink by about $5 million. FAU officials expect to recoup $750,000 through the 5 percent tuition increase.

Kenneth Jessell, vice president of financial affairs, said FAU plans to trim administrative and research costs. To help the university make ends meet, the tuition hike is "absolutely critical," he said.

Nova Southeastern University in Davie will have to absorb a $200,000 hit to programs in its pharmacy, medicine, and nursing colleges. "I'll have to do without upgrading some software," said Fred Lippman, chancellor of the Health Professions Division.

Bob Wills, Broward's chief assistant public defender, was relieved his office lost only about $500,000, less than half of what the state House might have cut. Still, Wills said the office has stopped interviewing job candidates, fearing further cuts and potential layoffs next year. He said there will be no annual bonuses, which may cause turnover, given that the starting salary of a public defender is $40,000.

Jamie Malernee can be reached at jmalernee@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4849.

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